Sometimes, mixing two different brands of the same flavoring is the key. For example, to get to my personal favorite peanut butter DIY, I have to use both Capella's peanut butter and TFA peanut butter flavorings.
How do they make premium juice so much better?
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Sometimes, mixing two different brands of the same flavoring is the key. For example, to get to my personal favorite peanut butter DIY, I have to use both Capella's peanut butter and TFA peanut butter flavorings.
For me the high priced eliquid, the complex flavors, the un-reproducible one of a kind flavor, is all hype. Wyatt Earp was the flavor that pushed me to DIY. It was the "must have", "must try" flavor....to me it tasted like what happened if I reloaded my CE2's without cleaning them between different flavors.
I mix up single flavors until they taste good as a single flavor, get the correct percentage. Then I can mix 2 or 3 flavored juice in a tank to try for a more complex, better flavor. I'll change the ratios of what I put in the tank until it suites my preference, something the hyped pre-mix can never do.
I mix up single flavors until they taste good as a single flavor, get the correct percentage. Then I can mix 2 or 3 flavored juice in a tank to try for a more complex, better flavor. I'll change the ratios of what I put in the tank until it suites my preference, something the hyped pre-mix can never do.
I have been doing my own DIY for about 6 months now. I thought the same thing about "How do they make the juices you buy better"? As many have stated, a lot of it is trial and error. For me, I have also found that the actual flavoring itself helps a LOT! I used to love Pink Spots 'Lemon Drop' and their 'Lime Freeze'. No matter how I tried, I could not duplicate these. After some searching and forum dialog, I found Inawera flavors. Now THIS is the Lime I was looking for as well as their Lemon Mix is awesome. Now, I have made my own 'Lime Freeze' AND 'Lemon Drop' and to me, they taste identical if not better so yes, it can be done. As it has been said, there is no magic ingredient. Keep trying different things and you will find it. To be honest, the wife and I love the DIY so much better than anything we have purchased.
Oo, i like that suggestion. thanks.
this is what i was afraid of. im worried i dont have the palate to discern which flavor(s) would be good to mix with others and at what % to create a perfect flavor vape.
my trial and error seems to always end with errors. the end result almost always tastes slightly off. and its the "off" that kills me because i dont know how to describe whats off with the flavor in order to fix it. most of the time i blame it on the flavoring for not being what i was looking for. but i understand it could be my mixing that screws it up. my problem is figuring out who is the culprit.
the more i get into DIY, the more respect i have for those who can craft a tasty mix. the ability to detect what is "off" or "wrong" with the mix, and then know what to do to fix it is truly a gift. and i dont seem to have it (yet!). i really want to have it. i just dont know how to hone that skill.
I don't have it. I just know what I like and what taste good...to me. Lately I have been mixing FW Kiwi Double with everything. I'll mix Kiwi Dbl with Cherry..Mmmmmm. Kiwi dbl with Blueberry...Mmmmm. Kiwi with Lime...Mmmmmm. Me likey.
One thing I have changed is how I mix. I used to make everything mixed. You know, like one bottle would be a mix of 2-3 flavors etc. Now, I mix each flavor in its own bottle of which I have about 30 individual flavors floating around. I just grab a couple that sound good together and mix a little of this with a little of that and it works great. It provides me and the wife with endless options in flavors and we are not stuck trying to suck down that one that we really don't like.
Alot of this is mind games to be quite frank. I said alot, not all, as there really is some fantastic juice out there being sold by vendors. With that in mind, let me explain.
When you're browsing a website and it's all beautifully decorated with big shiny buttons to click and nice wide attractive text sitting below a vivid, saturated picture that makes your mouth water poetically describing how the flavors that combine to make this recipe start off with 'A ripe, sun-dried white peach' and finish off with 'An ever so slight touch of refreshing sweet mint', you inevitably place your order. You get your package in the mail, and it's a nice, brand-new bottle with an intriguing label that has a modern color scheme and text layout, giving you the impression that this stuff is 'professional'.
Combine that with the hand-written "Thank you so much", and you feel that not only is this professional, high quality stuff, but it was made with care just for me. Perhaps they even intentionally put a dab of the recipe on the bottle (unbeknownst to you), so that the aroma fills up your room the moment you open your package, and you think, 'man my recipes don't have such potent aromas'. You take the first few drags, already having approved of the juice before your taste buds get to let you know whether or not they dig it. 'Wow, this is truly great stuff' your brain says, even though you're vaping on nothing more than TFA Juicy Peach, Koolada, and a small % of 50/50 Sweetener/Bavarian Cream with a few drops of EM.
When you mixed this exact recipe a few weeks ago, you made a sketchy little 5mL sample in a chinese-sourced plastic bottle with a hand-written chicken scratch label and couldn't smell much since you didn't intentionally dab the bottle. You vaped it, knowing exactly what was in it and as your mind tried to calculate whether or not you added too much of this or too little of that as you took your sample drags, you never really enjoyed the vape itself and deemed the recipe a failure. Perhaps there were some minor differences. You didn't add the touch of Bavarian Cream or the drop of EM. Maybe you had a high PG ratio and the vendor uses a high VG ratio with distilled water. These may seem like an ocean of difference in your perception, but they're really extremely minute in comparison to what your perception has created.
The same thing happens with the music I make. I'll lay down a real raunchy solo over a track were working on, play it back a few times, and think 'meh'. I'll then listen to a real popular musician's solo later that day, and even though it was just as raunchy and had all the same minor 'mistakes' (finger to fretboard picked up on mic, occasional bass thump when your thumb touches the low E, etc.), my perception thinks "wow what an amazing solo, only a true legend can jam such a solo, flawless". I once tested this theory out.
I recorded a guitar track and solo'd over it, then mastered it accordingly. A few friends were invited to hear it, and they were informed it was a new instrumental track by John Frusciante. They loved it, and asked where I got it. I made a very similar track and invited those same friends a few days later to check it out, asking what they thought of *my* guitar track. They said it was alright, and had a mouthful of recommendations/potential improvements for me.
It's weird, but it's how the brain works. If something is signified as professional, high-grade, finished product, you are quick to accept it and create a sort of mental symbolism that is detached from what the product actually is, whereas if *you* create something, it's easy to dismiss it as 'not good enough' or 'not quite there' since there is no mystery. You know exactly what went into it, and your mind questions and doubts whether or not there is room for improvement, potentially to the point of overlooking the value or legitimacy of your creation.
When you're browsing a website and it's all beautifully decorated with big shiny buttons to click and nice wide attractive text sitting below a vivid, saturated picture that makes your mouth water poetically describing how the flavors that combine to make this recipe start off with 'A ripe, sun-dried white peach' and finish off with 'An ever so slight touch of refreshing sweet mint', you inevitably place your order. You get your package in the mail, and it's a nice, brand-new bottle with an intriguing label that has a modern color scheme and text layout, giving you the impression that this stuff is 'professional'.
Combine that with the hand-written "Thank you so much", and you feel that not only is this professional, high quality stuff, but it was made with care just for me. Perhaps they even intentionally put a dab of the recipe on the bottle (unbeknownst to you), so that the aroma fills up your room the moment you open your package, and you think, 'man my recipes don't have such potent aromas'. You take the first few drags, already having approved of the juice before your taste buds get to let you know whether or not they dig it. 'Wow, this is truly great stuff' your brain says, even though you're vaping on nothing more than TFA Juicy Peach, Koolada, and a small % of 50/50 Sweetener/Bavarian Cream with a few drops of EM.
When you mixed this exact recipe a few weeks ago, you made a sketchy little 5mL sample in a chinese-sourced plastic bottle with a hand-written chicken scratch label and couldn't smell much since you didn't intentionally dab the bottle. You vaped it, knowing exactly what was in it and as your mind tried to calculate whether or not you added too much of this or too little of that as you took your sample drags, you never really enjoyed the vape itself and deemed the recipe a failure. Perhaps there were some minor differences. You didn't add the touch of Bavarian Cream or the drop of EM. Maybe you had a high PG ratio and the vendor uses a high VG ratio with distilled water. These may seem like an ocean of difference in your perception, but they're really extremely minute in comparison to what your perception has created.
The same thing happens with the music I make. I'll lay down a real raunchy solo over a track were working on, play it back a few times, and think 'meh'. I'll then listen to a real popular musician's solo later that day, and even though it was just as raunchy and had all the same minor 'mistakes' (finger to fretboard picked up on mic, occasional bass thump when your thumb touches the low E, etc.), my perception thinks "wow what an amazing solo, only a true legend can jam such a solo, flawless". I once tested this theory out.
I recorded a guitar track and solo'd over it, then mastered it accordingly. A few friends were invited to hear it, and they were informed it was a new instrumental track by John Frusciante. They loved it, and asked where I got it. I made a very similar track and invited those same friends a few days later to check it out, asking what they thought of *my* guitar track. They said it was alright, and had a mouthful of recommendations/potential improvements for me.
It's weird, but it's how the brain works. If something is signified as professional, high-grade, finished product, you are quick to accept it and create a sort of mental symbolism that is detached from what the product actually is, whereas if *you* create something, it's easy to dismiss it as 'not good enough' or 'not quite there' since there is no mystery. You know exactly what went into it, and your mind questions and doubts whether or not there is room for improvement, potentially to the point of overlooking the value or legitimacy of your creation.
Its just about making the same liquids over and over again and not be afraid og making a liquid that makes you go YUCK!... So far i have personally mastered liquerice and eucalyptus liquids... And my mountain dew is as close as humanly possible (but needs to steep for weeks) ... I make delicious liquerice flavors... But when i try to make a cookie based flavor i go YUCK!...
My best vape friend have mastered after eight... His after eight is freakin awesome :O... Cant copy it...
__________________________
M16 helio 0,29
Galileo aqua 0,8
Bolt carto tank
Vamo vivi/protank
Kts+ igo-w 0,7
My best vape friend have mastered after eight... His after eight is freakin awesome :O... Cant copy it...
__________________________
M16 helio 0,29
Galileo aqua 0,8
Bolt carto tank
Vamo vivi/protank
Kts+ igo-w 0,7
The #1 problem in newly DIYn is not knowing what your base tastes like. In my experience, PG has a taste and its pretty much the same no matter the source. VG has a taste and it varies among sources. Nic has a taste depending on the source. Mix them together in different proportions and the tastes change. So, always, the place to start is knowing your base. Mix it in the proportions you like to vape and vape it for at least a half hour to see how it affects your taste buds, then think of what flavoring you need to add to start chainging that taste into what you're after. You'll never know what sources of VG, nic or flavoring your favorite vendor-pre-mixed has in it but you can't begin to duplicate it without knowing what your base tastes like. Just giving you my personal opinion on tastes based on what I use: PG from MFS (MyFreedomSmokes) tastes plasticy and that's the same taste no matter where I get it. It is that taste I try to cover up with whatever flavoring I use. I get my VG at Walmart and it is way sweet and varies with the batch (the last batch from OneStopDiy is less sweet.) My favorite batch of nic 36% in 100% PG from MFS and, unfortunately or not depending on what taste I'm after, has a weak taste of licorice with a pinch of cinnamon when mixed 70/30 to 10.8 mg and vaped for at least a half hour at 3.3 to 3.7 volts with a 1.8 or 2.2 ohm atty. So, that's the taste I'm starting out with and trying to modify/mask to get whatever flavor I'm after... like, my favorite, pecan. To get the pecan taste I like, I'm going to have to do more to the mix than just throwing in some pecan flavoring from Lorann's because of how the base flavor is going to affect it. See what I mean? This is the way the mixers of those juices you prize are thinking. Hope that helps a bit. And, you may not taste the same things in your base that I do. Your buds as well as sources may differ but, just sayin, you have to know what that base tastes like to you.
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Wow man that's deep!
Thanks for taking the time to help us out and all of great tips and explanations on how to make juices we like, I'm just getting started with my dyi journey and it looks like it is going to be a long ride, but I have no doubt in my ability to make juice that I will really like and be proud to call my own. I received my bases and flavors the other day and just had to try and mix something up, and, well it wasn't bad but not great, but each day it got closer to what I was trying to make.
So it is all about time and starting out easy, like getting each flavor right, then start mixing and taking notes. Also I'm sure many of you have been searching the web for recipes to use and that's great, but, many of them that I have found do let you know if they are worth even trying! So just go with what you like and take the others with a grain of salt. Most of all just have fun and enjoy the ride! Oh yeah that reminds me I wanted to ride my bike today!
Thanks for taking the time to help us out and all of great tips and explanations on how to make juices we like, I'm just getting started with my dyi journey and it looks like it is going to be a long ride, but I have no doubt in my ability to make juice that I will really like and be proud to call my own. I received my bases and flavors the other day and just had to try and mix something up, and, well it wasn't bad but not great, but each day it got closer to what I was trying to make.
So it is all about time and starting out easy, like getting each flavor right, then start mixing and taking notes. Also I'm sure many of you have been searching the web for recipes to use and that's great, but, many of them that I have found do let you know if they are worth even trying! So just go with what you like and take the others with a grain of salt. Most of all just have fun and enjoy the ride! Oh yeah that reminds me I wanted to ride my bike today!
I mostly do drink mixes since that's what works for me. Hit up a recipe site find what's in something you like say Cherry Pie for example. I do this often in fact I spent weeks trying to find every component in Dr Pepper. I bought the FW flavoring but it was terrible to my buds. After some tweaking I got something pretty close. But it took me about three days working on two different batches before I was happy. I still had no clue how it would be after a steep and sometimes you get lucky. I made a bangin Apple Fritter but after two weeks of steeping it fell apart so I need to revisit that one and try again sometime.
So lets try making a Cherry Pie (Peach and Green Apple would work too) most people might enjoy.
We start with pie crust (seems about right) now we can add some brown sugar (pretty sure most pie has this) now toss in the cherry (it's shaping up but lacking) lets try some cinnamon roll (cinnamon adds dimension to many foods) little more cherry (man this is smelling good) few drops of lemon (lemon is used in most commercial pies) and you have just mixed your first ever premium juice. Now you start bottle number two using the same recipe but changing it slightly and maybe adding sweetener or some marshmallow or possibly whipped cream. Once you have a base recipe that you like it's up to you to make it better. If you feel your pie is lacking crust add more if it needs more sweet then go for it.
Please share the mtn dew recipe? I love me some dew vape but haven't quite mastered it.
TFA - MTN Dew Red (also check the HUGE list of TFA recipes thread)
4.0% mountain dew
2.0% cola
2.0% lemon lime
2.6% blueberry candy
2.6% black cherry
1.6% french vanilla
1.6% sour
1.0% ethyl maltol
1.6% sweetener
1.6% koolada
I also add 1% LA red licorice but it's not that important.
4.0% mountain dew
2.0% cola
2.0% lemon lime
2.6% blueberry candy
2.6% black cherry
1.6% french vanilla
1.6% sour
1.0% ethyl maltol
1.6% sweetener
1.6% koolada
I also add 1% LA red licorice but it's not that important.
Looking at Crunk's recipe made me wonder about how many flavorings some premium vendors use in a mix. Is there a point of diminishing returns? What is too much flavoring or is there such a thing? I've been fiddling with a vanilla custard recipe and am up to seven flavors and it's making me curious. Thanks....
Since most TFA flavors are chemicals that mimic natural flavors yes they have a sweet spot. If they were natural flavors they would simply get stronger and stronger to a point. But with artificial stuff you are playing with chemistry in essence. Therefore two much of one can change or cancel out entirely the reaction that occurs with another. Just like a perfume is most often made to mimic natural scents from within our environment. Otherwise to get a citrus scent you might have to bathe yourself in orange juice. But it works different with Capella for example and they also taste so very different for the same reasons they work different. And there is no limit to the number of flavors you can use as long as you can convince them to harmonize.
Many vendors don't get into 16 flavor mixes but some of the high dollar stuff might even go beyond. Most stores from my findings just add like 8% strawberry 2% sweetener and call it a day. If they make anything more complex it might have a little cream or koolada added. But they aren't spending a month or two working on just one flavor like some of the premium stuff has undergone. And some vendors even come to this very forums to get recipes we share and claim as their own designer juice. Mainly because it's easier for them to let us do the R&D for free while they count the money.
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